Finances for PLAB 2 Visa

I’m sure you have enough money to cover the cost of your PLAB 2 trip. However, you need to convince the ECO of this.

The more money you have, the better, provided you can prove, that you have legally earned it or that you legally own it. In case somebody is sponsoring you, you have to prove that they have legally earned it or that they legally own it.

Bank Balance

It is ideal to attach a bank statement for the last six months. There’s no rule that says you need to have more than 3,000 GBP to apply for your visa. I know people who got their visa with less than 3,000 GBP in their accounts and I know people who didn’t get their visas who had more than 3,000 GBP. But 3,000 GBP is generally considered to be a safe margin while applying for the visa.

Explain Opening Bank Balance

You have to explain your bank balance at the beginning of your bank statement. You have to show documentary evidence to prove that you own this money legally.

Explain Transactions

You must explain all incoming and outgoing transactions in your account in proper detail. You need to show that any money that you deposit in your account was legally earned. They also want to know that any money that you take out of your account was spent for legal reasons. Explaining your salary might be easy. But you must also explain all other transactions in your bank balance. The ECO wants to know that you’re not involved in any financial corruption or any other illegal activity. They also want to know if your balance matches up with your story.

Financial Sponsor

To make your case stronger, it’s best to have a financial sponsor. It doesn’t matter how much money you have in your own account, it’s always wise to have a financial sponsor. It’s best if the person sponsoring you is your parent or your sibling. Your uncle or aunt can also sponsor you.

So you have three options:

Finance this trip yourself.

Allow someone else to finance this trip for you.

Finance this trip yourself but have a financial sponsor as well.

i) Finance this trip yourself

You have to be employed and there should be a steady inflow of income into your bank account every month.

A) If you are a salaried individual, you need to be careful of the following:

You should attach a letter from your employer clearly stating your monthly income.

Your bank statement should have regular deposits of your salary (as stated by you in your cover letter).

Your salary should be deposited in your account each month, roughly around the same time of the month through the same means.

You should attach your documentary evidence of your business being legal and proof of your earning.

Your income tax details can help.

You should explain all transactions, with proper reasoning.

You should have a very healthy bank statement.

ii) Allow someone else to finance this trip for you

It’s completely understandable if you can’t finance the trip yourself. You’re a young doctor who’s at the beginning of your career.

You have to provide proper reasoning for not being able to finance the trip yourself.

You have to explain why someone else is sponsoring you. You can mention that they’re very close to you; you have an attachment to them; they’re concerned about you and your progress; they care about you; they want to see you doing well.

You have to prove your relationship with them, using ID documents.

You also have to prove that they’ve legally earned this money and that they’re legal residents, no matter where they live.

You have to prove that being your sponsor will not be an unnecessary financial burden on your sponsor.

iii) Have enough money in your own account and allow someone else to financially back you up as well

You can mention the fact that you have enough money of your own to finance this trip. However, just to be safe, someone else is also sponsoring you. This is just to reassure the visa office that you won’t use public funds in the UK and you won’t ask the UK government for financial aid at any point.

You should explain your own finances and your bank statement.

You have to explain why someone else is sponsoring you.

You have to explain your relationship with them, using ID documents.

You have to prove that they’ve legally earned this money and that they’re legal residents, no matter where they live.

You have to prove that being your financial sponsor will not be an unnecessary burden on your sponsor.

I chose this third option in my third attempt. You can go through my cover letter to see how I explained it.

Conclusion

Keep a healthy bank balance. Explain all transactions. Have a decent amount of money in your own bank account. But have someone else financially back you up, just to be on the safe side.

hey i m confused about bank statemnt…should it be 5 lacs right from the begining and despite of transactions the amount should be equal obove 5 lacs in 3 mnths…. or the whole money in trasactions should conclude 5 lacs in the end of three mnths so dat the bank statemnt will be cpunted from the frst 50 000 in the frst mnth??

if i mention 6 month statement of my father along with 6 months of mine which would include recent 3000p transferred by my father’s account plus 6 month salary transactions…but the salaries were withdrawn at random basis and the balance at end of month used to be zero… will it affect the statement?

As long as you have enough money in your account and your provide documentary evidence for this money being earned legally and also explain the reasoning in detail of why it was transferred to your account, you should be fine. Check all of my posts related to PLAB 2 visa just to be safe.

Assalam o alalkum Dr. Naseer. Your blog is such an informative blog for us as it clear many questions which arise in our mind. You did a Great Job. May Allah bless you for this Blog 🙂
I have only two questions and that is for finance for PLAB 2 visa.
Q1) Is it possible that from total 3000 GBP, I contribute 1500 GBP (from my monthly salary) and my father contribute 1500 GBP.? Or only one should be the sponsor whether it will be me or my father?
Q2) This 3000 GBP should be in the account for at least 6 months or I can save them gradually from my earnings per month so that it reaches 3000 GBP or more at the time I applied for my VISA application.?
Hoping to hear soon from your side. Thanks 🙂

Hello Dr. Naseer , I m preparing for my plab 2 visa as i intend to apply for it by first week of May, i already have a brother in UK who is going to sponsor me for this trip. He just transferred me 4000 p into my account via legitimate channels which will be indicated in statements of both of us and is it a good idea that he can mention in his sponsorship letter that he paid for my both PLAB EXAMS, (will be reflected by his bank statement) and had transferred me funds for my trip only and will also support me in any further need. My question is, is this idea of sponsorship by an already settled sibling in UK, a good way to convince ECO OR no? P.S. by the time i ll be applying for my Visa these funds will only be less than a month old.

There is no way of knowing if a candidate will get their visa clearance or not. But we can try our best. Your plan sounds good. Just make sure that your brother has enough funds in his account, after transferring £4,000 to your account, to be able to convince the ECO that your brother will not run out of funds in the U.K.

Hello Dr. Naseer. First, I’d like to thank you for all your posts regarding the Plab exam. All the posts are very informative & helpful.
I needed help regarding my Plab 2 visa application. I recently passed my plab 1 exam & am planning to give my plab 2 on august24 this year. I’m planning to do the swammy academy course from the 13th of july, so I’d be leaving my home country around 10 july. The main issue is that I’m still doing my internship, here in Bangladesh, whereas I’m an Indian resident. My internship would get over at the end of may & I’ll be returning to India around 10 june. If I apply for the visa around 15 june, what are the chances of me getting it in time. & as I’m an intern, & we foreign interns are not paid here during our internship, would it be ok to show my parents as my sponsors even though I don’t have a job yet & haven’t earned any money as yet? Please reply.
Regards,
Dr. Syed Mehdi

Hello,
I have booked my plab 2 on august. I have a question regarding my bank account.
I started working on November so its only 6 months since I have the account. The account type is saving account , however the statues is Active , as I’ve been using this account on daily basis.
Is this going to cause my a problem ?? As I heard the account shouldnt be saving account.
Thank you

Hello Nasser. Hope you are doing well.
I have a few questions and hope to find an answer in your blog. Next week i will apply for my visa with a sponsor from uk.
1. Do you have any clear idea of the documents the aponsor must provide? Is there any specific form, appart the letter from them and the bank statement?
2. The sponsor will post his document to me and i will submit them along with my application. Am i right?
3. The only bank account i have is the one i have used during my university years. It is a student account.I used it only for little money my parents would send me, cause most of my money i earned through random jobs, but i have no evidence for them and they are not reflected in my account(cash only).Should i anyway include a bank statement of 6 months for this account?
I know this might be specific information, but if you have any idea ,kindly help. 🙂

1. You can check the documents that I attached. I’ve mentioned them in my blog.
2. Right.
3. You should. But anything you state in your application (including your earnings) must have documentary evidence.

Hi Nasser. My sponsor from UK is sending
1.an invitation letter
2.sponsorship form filled in
3.bank statement
4. Electeicity bills to prove they own the house.
Should any of this be signed at the notary? Should i ask for something else? Thank you in advance. 🙂

Since i got a new job in february, i had to open a new account as requested by the hospital. I will be applying for a visa in June, and by then i will have just 4 months bank statement. I have another account where i used to earn money for the last 2years but now that account has very little cash in it. Pls how do i go about the 6 months bank statement?

Thanks a lot for your very informative blog. Please can you shed more light on “explaining every transaction” How would we go about that? Is it in d cover letter and how would we do that for a long 6 month statement. Please I need some clarification. Thanks again for sharing your experiences

You would explain where the money came from and where it went. You’ll explain and justify that it was legally earned or spent. This is why it’s best to have as fewer transactions as possible. Yes, you will explain this in your cover letter.

This is a difficult task. If you deposited money in your account, you have to show where and why it came from and that it was legally earned. If you are taking money out of your account, you have to show where it’s going and why and that it is being used legally. This is why the only transactions that I had in my statement were my monthly salary deposits.

If my bank statement contains only the monthly salary with no withdrawals at all, will this be suspicious as how to explain for the monthly expenses at your country?
I can say that I live with my parents so I don’t need to pay for rent or food but,
what about gas for the car?
clothing and miscellaneous expenses ?
for example (I deposit 500 US dollars as my monthly salary, then withdraw a 100 US dollars as my monthly expenses, so I will have 400 US dollars per month, then after 8 months I will have a cumulative of 3200 US dollars or so) what about this plan ?

Both of these plans are completely fine. I myself was in exactly the same situation. The only transactions in my bank account were my monthly salary deposits. I did not take my salary out. And I wrote that my father gives me monthly pocket money for my expenses, which was completely true. My father also paid for my gas for the car. So this was not a problem at all.

You can choose to take 100 USD out every month, but you will have to explain where you are spending it. So it is more convenient to not take it out.

Should I deposit my salary in local currency or can I deposit it in foreign ones like US Dollars, Euros or GBP ?
should I explain for it in my cover letter as it’s easier to deal with it than my local currency especially in international bank transactions?

Asalamualaikum.excellent work. I am from Fsd.If i hav a bank statement of 11 lac but no one to sponsor… and all the money in bank can be justified as it has been transfered to my account as salart credit as i am working as a PGR In tertiary care hosp getting 65000 per month with almost 10000 as personal expenses… will it be sufficient and do not pose a problem of not having a financial sponsor while applying for plab visa… Kindly explain . JAZAKALLAH.
Ps. My visa has bn refused once because if only two months employment.

Since you have more than enough money, you do not need a sponsor. So no need to worry. If you can find a sponsor, it will strengthen your case further. But you don’t really need a sponsor.

It’s best to apply for the visa after you have been employed for 6 months.

Since you have a training job, you have a very good chance of getting a visa. You should write and explain in your visa cover letter that you have a training job which is not easy to find in Pakistan, so you will not give up on it. Therefore, you will return back to Pakistan.

Hello Naseer and everyone. I recently got my visa with less than a month job ( didnt have my first salary yet) ,no properties of my own. I did manage to find a sponsor from UK who helped me very much. So if i had a positive outcome there is hope for everyone 😀

Dear sir!
My plab visa has been refused about 3~4 times. But after reading your post I am hopeful again.
If I show myself unemployed and zero bank balance and show my brother as sponsor. Then how am I going to fill the whole funds related page?
Please guide me about this.
Thank you..!

You would be risking another refusal if you apply while being unemployed. It is best to apply for your visa after you’ve been working for 6 months. Follow all of my visa related posts from my website. Best of luck! 🙂

For a syrian student, how hard is it to get a visa?
I heard that no matter how strong your profile is, you still don’t get a visa.
Technically, if I don’t get a visa, I would have wasted my time, effort, and future in vain…
You think I should take the chance?

Unfortunately, I do not have any friends from Syria. So I don’t know how easy or difficult it is to get a visa from Syria.

But I come from Pakistan. And there is a common perception that it is very difficult to get a visa from Pakistan. But I can say this with certainty that if you fill your visa application properly, you will get your visa, even from Pakistan.

I would suggest you to post this question on Facebook groups to take opinions of people from Syria.

I chose option iii ( Have enough money in my own account and allow my father to financially support me as well) in my visa application , should I provide a Father’s Letter of Support or Affidavit of Support with my application ? as they did not mention these documents in the supporting document checklist which sent to me to prepare them before my appointment .

U have mentioned that ‘one has to justify opening bank statement.’ My question is, if I manage to take some amount in loans (e.g. from a relative) but I don’t want to reveal this to ECO, in order to avoid documentation (I’ll show it as my own money).

So, will I have to prove my opening balance with documentary evidence too?

Likewise, do we need to justify the transactions during 6 months alone or preceding too?

Hello Dr Naseer, I have some questions sir and I hope you can help me,

Since I am a junior doctor, my monthly earning is really weak, so right now if I open a bank account the sum of money of 6 months will be really small
, the thing is I already have an account that I have been depositing my monthly salary in, but most of the money in that account come from my father’s monthly allowance and yearly support. What should I do?

Hi Naseer,
My salary varies from month to month depending because some months, my employer pays bonuses or allowances. I intend to explain these variations in my cover letter and salary slips. Hope this will not be a problem for me?

Hello, I’m using my current bank account for more than a year and I’m planning to apply for my visa after 4/5 months. So if I give my bank statement of last 6 months , my starting amount will be 4 lakh. So, do I need to explain from where I got those 4 lakh?

Good day doctor, thank you for your post. I got a cash gift of 3000£ from my father but my husband is my financial sponsor. I am.currently unemployed as I had to stop work to care for my baby.
Do I need to ask my husband to send another 3000£ to my account to make it 6000£ , is this way better? Or should i just use his statement with the moneys inside?